Trip Report Our first WDW trip, not so scary in Disney but so scary in Universal

Hi all,

a day later than promised, but here is our TR from out October 2014 trip to WDW and Universal. It will be a long TR I guess, we have tons of pictures! So please be patient, it probably will take quit some time to finish this TR! This week we still have holidays so not that many time to work on this TR, but from next week I will post as many posts as possible during work time

If you are interested in the PTR: here it is

The overall thought of this trip is marvelous, wonderfull, magical, scary, beautifull! I guess a lot of you want to know the comparison with DLP. My first opinion is that although the parks in USA are older than DLP I am sure that the parks in USA are better!! The cast members are more gentle, easier to talk to! The look of the park is cleaner than in DLP, all the buildings are in a much better shape than in DLP. Off course we are in DLP 4/5 times a ytear, so everything feels 'normal' and WDW was a first timer (yeah I was there 25 years ago, but the only thing I remember from that trip are the pictures (sorry not digital). So when you visit WDW for the first time everything looks better than DLP.

The best thing about WDW in comparison to DLP is the magic band system in WDW. It really worked out very good! We also had the Memory Maker, so beside our tons of pictures we also have 100+ memory pics taken by cast members.

So in short words the days:
Friday October 17th: flight, was ok, not that much turbulence
Saturday October 18th: Magic Kingdom, was great, special, magical
Sunday October 19th (daytime): Universal, Island of Adventure, was also great, Harry Potter was marvelous
Sunday October 19th (nighttime): Universal, Universal Studios, Halloween Horror Night, absolute a thrill!
Monday October 20th: Epcot, not really our thing, Test Track was great, The Wine and Food thing was not our thing
Monday October 20th: Downtown Disney, hard to find a parking lot, and a lot of structure going on, some great shops, but overall not really our thing
Tuesday October 21th: Universal Studios, great day!
Wednesday October 22nd: Hollywood Studios, a more that great day, Fantasmic was a more that special end of the day
Wednesday October 22nd: Premium Outlets, not that great, much shops that were not our thing
Thursday October 23rd (daytime): Animal Kingdom, good, not great! Some great rides, for the rest nothing more than a zoo
Thursday October 23rd (nighttime): Magic Kingdom, Not So Scary Halloween, a more than great night!!
Friday October 24th: flight home, was ok, a lot of turbulence

So this was the trip in a nutshell!

Much, much, much more to come!!

p.s. It was the first time, but absolutely not the last!!!!

 

[abzoo]

Great start to the trip report! I can't wait for the Disney part. I'll look for myself in your Magic Kingdom pictures since we were in the same park that day!!

 

[epcotisbest]

Good start on the TR. Enjoyed the part about getting to WDW, very interesting. I guess I take for granted how easy it is for us to hop in the car and in about eight or nine hours later we are there. Our first stop is usually at DTD for lunch at Earl of Sandwich. I would be in big trouble if my first stop upon arrival was McDonald's. Looking forward to more.

 

[FlaggNL]

Great start to the trip report! I can't wait for the Disney part. I'll look for myself in your Magic Kingdom pictures since we were in the same park that day!!

Thanks, starting today with the Disney part! A lot more to come, and it would be great if you find yourself on one of our pictures!

Great start!! Excited to see all of your adventures!

Thanks, if you will be half as exited as we were and still are you have a great day

Good start on the TR. Enjoyed the part about getting to WDW, very interesting. I guess I take for granted how easy it is for us to hop in the car and in about eight or nine hours later we are there. Our first stop is usually at DTD for lunch at Earl of Sandwich. I would be in big trouble if my first stop upon arrival was McDonald's. Looking forward to more.

Thanks! I know what you mean. We have that with DLP. Just hop in the car and four hours later we are in Paris
We missed Earl this time, we were in DTD for a short stop and just saw some shops. There was a lot of working going around so we left fast.. but later in that in the TR

 

[FlaggNL]

So here we are again with the first day in WDW!

Saturday October 18th

We woke up ealy in the villa. Everybody was so excited! Time to go to WDW. For me 25 years ago and for Ria en Sacha the first time ever!! We took the car for an half an hour ride.....we thougt..... and we extremely early! I was insisted to see the 'opening show' in Magic Kingdom. We were driving behind our friends car... the sign next to the road said Disneyland 6 miles to go.... so we came closer and closer.... but the sign said straight ahead.. we went..... left..... but hey we are together so we followed along.. unwil we came at the, we think, behind from Disneyland. We saw signs for Disney University, we saw the maintenance department for the monorail system. But no signs for the parking lot.. times flew by and more than 45 minutes later we finnaly arrived at the parking lot. The sadthing was we didn't get the picture of the Walt Disney Sign above the road and we missed the opening!

And what a difference with DLP. Off course the parking lots are bigger, but the system that you take a 'tram' every 15 minutes or so to the ticket and transportation unit is great! We just had to remember that the car was in the heroes section lane 27. Fantastic!

Then we took the boat to the gates of Magic Kingdom. I forgot that from 25 years ago, but still great that you have to take the boat or monorail, but have to say that the lines for the monorail was in our opinion way to long!

Then it finnaly happened! We were in the World!! 260 days of waiting was over! A great feeling that lasted a whole day! First thing we did was getting the magic bands!

Ria and Sacha decided to have a Frozen band and my goal was a haunted mansion version and I had succes!

Here are some pictures about our way to the inside of the Magic Kingdom!!!

Day 1 in WDW to be continued.....

 

[FlaggNL]

We still are in the park for just 30 minutes.... looking around and walking inside Main Street slowly and steady! Main Street in DLP is not so different from Magic Kingdom. Guess there is some difference in shops but that's all. One big difference is that in the Barber Shop in DLP you still get a wet shave if you want, and as you can imagine I have that shave every visit to DLP.

Some pictures from us during the walk through Main Street. Look at the sky on every picture (during our whole USA trip ). The weather was marvelous every day! Sunshine and no rain at all!

As you can see below, the 'opening show' was over....

 

[Disneygrl]

So excited to read your TR! Great start so far

 

[coachwnh]

Looking forward to seeing much more!

 

[mousefreak]

Great start. Can't wait for more.

 

[gwhb75]

following along. Looks great so far.

 

[LisaBelle]

Hooray, your trip report has started! Off to a great start. Sorry you missed the opening show on your first day. Looking forward to more.

 

[Nubs70]

The last pictures of our arrival day.

Just 10 minutes to go before touch down on American soil

In your measurements:

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In our measurements

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There is the sign

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Off course we were not allowed to take pictures when we were at customs!

After that we have to arrange our car. Sacha and I were guarding the suitcases!

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It took more time than we thought before we had our car. It seems that our travel agency made a mistake. So the SUV they wanted to give us (Mazda CX-5) was not big enough for all the suitcases we had. So after a lot of talking and some $ we had the SUV we wanted

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And then again Sacha is still learning

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After a short drive the first top we made was McDonald

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So the final thoughts of the first day. It was not that bad. A long 9 hour flight, not that much turbulence. After getting the car we went for the key for the villa! It was an hour drive from Sandford to the Villa. After a short break we went to Wallmart for some groceries and some eating from another McDonalds. And then it was time for a sleep! Magic Kingdom was waiting for us!

Hope you like what I show and wtite for you! Not much Disney so far, but like I said in an earlier post, I will make it up with you all!

Eeeek!!! Schipol. I hate the mad dash from E terminal to the B terminal. If you look closely, you may be able to see the lung I left behind there a few years back.

 

[SharonD]

Great start!!!

 

[Longers]

following along.
The food sizes on the plane look huge compared to what we get.
Loving all the photos and so glad you already have another trip booked.

 

[FlaggNL]

So excited to read your TR! Great start so far

Thanks, it will take a lot of time to finish the report. We have almost 1000 pictures.... and off course there are days like yesterday when work is so busy I can't find time to update the TR. But here we are again

Looking forward to seeing much more!

Thanks, there will be much much more!

Great start. Can't wait for more.

Thanks, hop you will like the rest of the TR and that you are in it for the long time.... it will a long TR

following along. Looks great so far.

Thanks!

Hooray, your trip report has started! Off to a great start. Sorry you missed the opening show on your first day. Looking forward to more.

Thanks And although we missed the opening show, the trip was marvelous, great, fantastic, maginificent and magical. I hope our pictures speaks for themself! And we had the thought to go to the opening show later in the week but well we do it next time And we already now when the next time will take place!

Eeeek!!! Schipol. I hate the mad dash from E terminal to the B terminal. If you look closely, you may be able to see the lung I left behind there a few years back.

Thanks, and we probably found yor lung... it was next to us.. on the day we returned to Schiphol. Man what a crime... lol. They changed and the walk from plane to luggage took more than 45 minutes!

Great start!!!

Thanks!!

following along.
The food sizes on the plane look huge compared to what we get.
Loving all the photos and so glad you already have another trip booked.

Hej, you think the food was huge.... I had better in the past... but it was manageble. And on the other hand, what can you expect on a cheaper flight? We had not a compaint at all... Only on the way back there was more turbulence than hoped for! And glad that you are glad! We are so excited for already know that within a year we will be back

 

[FlaggNL]

Before continuation with the first day in Magic Kingdom I found pictures on our iphones from depart and arrival day, so I want to share them as well Sure no Disney, but for us the flight to Orlando was a great start of the trip!

When arriving on Shiphol Airport it was still early and dark. We arrived 4 hours before takeoff. Off course for same Starbucks. But the rules for flying to USA are very strict. You have to check in 3 hours before takeoff. Then you to be on time at the gate because every thing what is electric has to be showed and turned on they say. During boarding time they checked laptops and phones, but only in the x-ray scanner.

Like I said we had to go to Starbucks

Still early and no people at the checkin desk!

The next one is after landing on Sandford. During the 1 hour drive to our villa!

The pool in the backyard from the Villa.

Finding out the wifi code in the Villa

After installation in the Villa we went to Wallmart for some groceries and after that BK time!

 

[FlaggNL]

So here we go with the next part of the first day in Magic Kindgom. We still are walking around and absorbing the magnificent feeling of really being the World! We also had Memory Maker on this trip. So every guy or girl from Disney with a camera we saw... well you will see enough of them in this TR

In the early days of DLP you found also shows like this when walking to the park. The last 5 or 6 years they became less and less. Since a year or so you can find more of them in DLP again. But have to say not as good as in MK!

We didn't check if the horse was in the park all day or only during the first 2 or 3 hours. In DLP the horse is there only for just 1 hour.

I included next picture because of the works that are done. That was one fo the things during this trip that I thought hmmmmm there is a lot of work going on. Mainly in MK, Downtown and AK. So in the future we can expect a lot of changes in the parks

Adorable aren't we? LOL!

 

[FlaggNL]

Continuation of the first day

Sacha in her Frozen mode

And me as Darth Vader.. a great lookalike am I

In DLP we have Autopia and have to say the cars in WK are better but the ride in DLP is almost twice as long!

 

[FlaggNL]

Final post of the day. We are still in day 1 in MK, but have to work a little more

Below acctually the last picture of the day!

 

[mrdrift]

Great start to the report. The pictures are really beautiful and vibrant. Can't wait to read more from your trip at Disney World.

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

Really enjoying your report so far! I love hearing your comparison to DLP. We likely will never go there so I'll live it through your comparisons.